


The Brave, The Bold, and The Adorable

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Meet-Cute, jeno is the perfect split between fuckboy and geek, you can read this without knowing DC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 12:51:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11967780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Being the legendary Blue Beetle has it's perks. Being the emotionally stunted Lee Jeno does not.





	The Brave, The Bold, and The Adorable

**Author's Note:**

> blue beetle is based off of Jaime Reyes’ New Earth rendition here’s a clip of the character: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oR24p54vuI for dc fans this is obviously set pre-infinite crisis see notes at the bottom after reading so u don’t see spoilers.

_“I got magic armor... dunno how it works. Got a magic rock inside my body... can't get it out... went into outer space n' helped them... but now the superheroes hate me... I’m the Blue Beetle.”_

 

Jeno never _asked_ to be a superhero. He never _asked_ for the metal scarab he found in an abandoned parking lot to one night ruthlessly attach itself to his literal spine. Sure he _dreamt_ of being a hero sometimes, confessing his desire to be on the news and have action figures made of himself to his best friend Donghyuck, but he didn’t think it would all come true.

 

Donghyuck, and his other close friend Mark, were so far the only ones who knew about the scarab, but it wasn’t like he was hiding it from anyone. His parents didn’t know, but that was only because they were mostly too busy with work to have a sit-down conversation with their son.

 

Aside from his family and friends, a few days after his discovery, Batman of all people had gotten wind of Jeno’s new abilities through a guy named Booster Gold (“Booster Gold?” Mark had asked, “he sounds like car repair product”) and decided to come to his aid. Batman was pretty cool, he supposed. During their third meeting, Jeno was having a sleepover with Mark and Donghyuck, and he’ll never forget the memory of the masked hero sitting down and eating snacks with them as they watched old reruns of the Fast and Furious movies; _“you tell no one this happened, got it?”_ he had warned them before climbing back out through the window. He was fun, a good mentor of sorts.

 

* * *

 

Currently, Jeno is nearly dozing off to sleep in midair as the scarab flies on auto-pilot towards wherever he’s headed. The suit had transformed at about 1 A.M., folding over his body and tossing him out the window. When he looks down at the ground below him he can’t really tell where exactly he is, but as he watches the condition of the streets below become worse and worse, the bad feeling in his gut grows and grows.

 

Only having found the confidence to start a few weeks ago, he really hadn’t gotten the hang of the whole flying thing; it was hard, as one could easily presume. Batman had promised to take him out on some lessons when he could fit them into his heavy, crime-stopping packed schedule, but Jeno had always been a bit impatient with things. Like the time in freshman year where he had an entire plan to ask out one of the sophomore cheerleaders, but at the end he couldn’t be bothered to wait for everything to come together, so he gave her a fistful of flowers from his garden and asked her out to McDonald’s instead. Donghyuck had slapped him on the back of the head later, reprimanding him for making him run across town to get everything ready for the big reveal. The _point_ of the story, though, is that the girl still said yes, and Jeno still got what he wanted despite his lack of patience. He figures that if it worked to his advantage then, then it could now. So, if the scarab wanted him to become the blue beetle and go fly off to wherever it was that it was leading him, then who was he to say no and wait around for the big bat to come give him his ‘okay’?

 

He finally comes to his senses and realizes what is happening when he passes by a dusty alleyway beside a tall, dark apartment building. The neighborhood is nothing like Jeno’s own upper class one, but all his preconceived judgement is pushed aside when he sees a small boy in the alleyway, cowering in fear as three larger men walk towards him, effectively cornering him in amongst the black garbage bags. Despite having hardly any experience controlling the scarab, he manages to extend one of the suit’s arms to grab hold of two of the perpetrators and pull them up into the air before dropping them onto the back of one of the other men. Chaos ensues short afterwards.

 

It’s not until the three criminals are tied up on the roof of the neighboring building and 911 is called that Jeno finally lands on the ground, breaths coming out laboured as he carefully approaches the cowering teenager. His heart flounders as he notices just how small and helpless he looks: glasses crooked on his face, beanie pulled down protectively, shoelaces undone as he sits in a ball on the cold, concrete floor. His suit folds back into the scarab and leaves him in a pair of grey sweatpants and socks. He’s grateful that they’re still experiencing warm weather.

 

“Uh, hi there, is everything alright? Why are you out so late?” Jeno tries, kneeling down to place a hand on the boy’s knee. He looks vaguely familiar up close.

 

He watches with a deep frown on his face as the teenager tries to talk, despite being in obvious shock, “D-don’t know, gotta find my b-backpack before I g-go home, Sicheng’s gonna be p-p-pissed…”

 

Being a superhero, in Jeno’s eyes, consists of saving the world, defeating evil villains from galaxies away, and most importantly, being Batman’s sidekick. What he doesn’t expect it consisting of is carrying a shivering boy around town on his back as they retrace his steps to find his lost school bag. The streets are deserted and poorly paved, and Jeno has to take extra care not to stumble in the dips and cracks of the sidewalk. Renjun, as Jeno learns is his name, goes to the same school as him, but is in the advanced learning program, which explains why the two of them never have classes together. He also learns that Renjun lives in one of the worn down apartment buildings in the area since his family has been struggling to make ends meet ever since they moved here from China. Jeno feels unreasonably guilty for his nearly perfect situation, being a rich, native-born superhero and all. Though he figures, even if Renjun wanted to be a hero, he would probably crumble apart the minute he stepped on the battlefield. He’s just so, so small and it’s really, _really_ cute.

 

“Thank you, for everything, I mean. I’m sorry if I interrupted your superhero-ing tonight, I promise to take better care of my stuff and not lose it. Oh, and to not wander down dark roads in the night,” Renjun adds, eyes cast downwards to his shoes as he shyly kicks at the gravel. Jeno makes him a bit nervous when he stands there all big and strong, arms crossed, back straight, right eyebrow raised. They’re standing outside the red double doors to the lobby, and the weak lighting above them highlights all of Jeno’s features so beautifully.

 

“Don’t worry about it, honestly, I’m glad that my suit woke me up when it did.”

 

“Your… your suit woke you up?”

 

“It’s complicated. Anyway, you should be getting some sleep so you can get to school on time tomorrow,” Jeno reminds him, handing over the boy’s purple backpack. He kind of wishes he himself could get away with wearing a colourful backpack. There’s a slight blush dusting across Renjun’s cheeks and Jeno’s fingers itch to pinch them. He’s too adorable to be living in a place like this.

 

“I’ll see you around, I guess? Maybe we could sit at lunch together sometime…?” Renjun suggests, a bout of confidence washing over him.

 

“Of course!” Jeno exclaims, fishing his phone out of his pocket and pulling up his snapchat code, “Add me, we can figure out a time through there.” Renjun lets out a sigh of relief and digs around his bag for his own phone.

 

* * *

 

Later on, when Jeno gets home, he finds a snapchat waiting for him from the smaller boy. It’s a selfie, illuminated by an orange lava lamp as he lays back on a pillow. Half of his face is covered with a peace sign. The text reads _“thank you again ^^”._ He barely resists the urge to screenshot it, but he does have enough shamelessness in his blood to quickly hit replay.

 

Renjun flushes deep red when Jeno’s response comes back, a shirtless mirror selfie as the younger brushes his teeth, reassuring that _“ima superhero! its my job to save damsels in distress ;)”._ None of his friends are ever going to believe them when he tells them he’s befriended _the Lee Jeno._ As in, the captain of almost every school sports team. As in, also the captain of the robotics team. As in, basically the coolest guy in the whole world. Before he can reply, said boy sends him another picture through the mirror, this time of the scarab attached to his back, with the speech bubble drawn on, _“have a good night, Renjunnie!”_

 

He can’t even be bothered to laugh at the cuteness of it all because he’s pretty sure Jeno sent both snaps just to show off his muscles. What an utter _fuckboy._ A geeky, lovely, smiley, fuckboy. Who’s also a superhero in training. Renjun is screwed.

 

* * *

 

A long time passes before Renjun gains the confidence to tell Jeno about his real backstory. Jeno had started to make a habit of walking Renjun home everyday after school, and one afternoon Renjun’s older brother had been waiting outside the apartment complex and invited Jeno inside for dinner. It was hard to say no when he looked over to see Renjun’s excited face, a metaphorical puppy tail wagging back and forth behind him. It’s annoying, really, how Renjun could  probably even convince him to commit mass murder with a single smile. Dinner turned into watching Scooby-Doo movies together, which eventually turned into a sleepover since the elder’s brother thought that it was much too late at night for Jeno to be walking home alone. Jeno doesn’t have the heart to tell him it’s only 9:30. They had stayed up until the early hours of the morning, conversations turning fake deep (thanks, Donghyuck, for teaching Jeno all he needs to know about 2017 slang) as they mumble on about what life is _really_ all about. That’s what brings them to the now, to when Renjun sits up from his bed and looks over at Jeno who’s lying beside him, hands behind his head and eyes closed–yet not sleeping.

 

“Jeno.”

 

“Mhm?”

 

“You know when I said I was new here ‘cause I came from China, right?”

 

“Yes, go on…?”

 

“I’m not actually from China.”

 

Jeno peeks one eye open at that, scanning Renjun’s face for any sign of a lie.

 

“Then… where are you from? And what was the point in lying?”

 

“Well, I felt as though it would be hard for me to just come right out and tell you I’m literally not from here, here as in this planet, right?”

 

And despite Jeno’s experience with all things alien (see: the metal bug that morphed with his spine) he freaks out and jumps out of the bed, hands up in a defensive, karate-like position. Batman would be so damn proud.

 

“You what now?”

 

Renjun looks like he’s been kicked in the side, with a frown plastered on his face and tears making his eyes glossy, “I-I’m _sorry,_ Jeno, okay? I didn’t ever have the right time to tell you, but, but hey! We have this in common don’t we?”

 

The alien-boy hesitantly slides a little closer to Jeno, crawling over his side of the bed to sit on the edge facing him. The room is quiet and the tension is palpable, like you could cut it with a knife. Everything is happening too fast. Just when Renjun thinks he’s going to reconsider and stay the night, in a split second Jeno shakes himself out of his thoughts and makes to run away, but reflexes act accordingly. Renjun flicks his wrist towards Jeno and pulls the air towards his body, effectively sliding Jeno closer across the hardwood floor until he’s stood right in front of the smaller boy. Jeno squeaks in surprise.

 

“Please, you can't leave. I need this, I need you to be here with me, this, all of this, is bigger than you being weirded out.” Renjun pleads, ignoring the fact that he just managed to move all one hundred and thirty pounds of Jeno across the room without even touching him.

 

“H-how. How did you do that.”

 

“I’ll tell you if you stop looking at me like my skin turned green and I’m telling you to ‘take me to your leader.’”

 

Jeno pauses before nodding, reaching his hand down tentatively to hold Renjun’s own. His expression is trying to convey that he’s sorry, that he’s willing to hear him out. Renjun’s heart jumps around a bit for reasons unknown to him, but as quick as the feeling comes, it leaves when he shoves it down along with the nervousness coursing through his veins and gets on with the story as he brings Jeno back down on the bed. He tells his friend about his older brother, about how they came to Earth to support their family back home since they were struggling. Jeno holds Renjun tight as he recounts to him about a firebomb that had went off in their neighborhood on planet Braal, and how their whole family had been injured and his mother had died. He doesn’t remember much about living on Braal since his brother, Sicheng, and him had moved so early in his life. Sicheng isn’t home much apparently, but when he is, he brings home a really nice girl named Lydda and Renjun loves her very much, like an older sister. It takes hours for him to finish rambling about his worries, about how Sicheng expects him to join the Legion once he grows old enough, but he doesn’t know if he has it in him to hurt other people. Jeno thinks back to the scene in the alleyway and how now, with the knowledge of the alien boy’s magnetic powers, he could’ve easily taken the three men out, and yet he was too sympathetic to lay a finger on them. Jeno is glad that he’s there to protect the boy. He finds his chest aches from the thought of Renjun sustaining as little as a papercut.

 

They eventually get to sleep around two in the morning—Renjun is laying on Jeno’s arm and curled up against his chest. They set up pillows so that Jeno can comfortably lay on his back without the scarab threatening to paralyze him. It’s nice. Jeno stays awake for much longer than Renjun though, thoughts racing a mile a minute. He hopes that their friendship can remain normal despite this, but he also thinks that a small part of him would love to see Renjun in battle by his side. He thinks of the elder as a sort of lucky charm—he’s convinced that in every fight he’s been in since they met, he has fought better with the thought of keeping Renjun safe at the front of his mind. Renjun has also become better friends with his scarab than he himself has, and Jeno stubbornly thinks that it must just be another one of his powers at work. _Of course._ The power to be incredibly adorable, sweet, charismatic, compassionate, intelligent, rational, cute, cute, cute, cute, and did he mention adorable already? Definitely that too, then.

 

* * *

 

It turns out that being teenage superheroes is a lot more chill than one would presume. When the two boys wake up, they go about their weekend as normal kids would. Renjun suggest they go get ice cream, and they do. Simple as that. No sudden calls from Batman, no freak accidents involving the scarab or the other’s magnetic abilities. Though, they joke about the fact that it would’ve saved a lot of time if Renjun had just used his mind to scoop their ice cream, instead of having to wait around for the employee to show himself to the counter. Jeno orders a loaded cone of chocolate chip cookie dough and Renjun gags, ordering himself a raspberry sorbet in a cup. They talk for hours about a future that doesn’t involve saving the world. Instead of wanting to travel to new universes, Jeno shyly confesses that he’s really interested in history and social studies, that he loves learning about the Earth. Renjun giggles and tells him that he wants to pursue languages. He tells him he had to learn Chinese because of his cover-up backstory and that he found it was much more enjoyable than he thought it would be, and he believes that everyone should learn a second or third language. Jeno shudders and shakes his head.

 

* * *

 

“You’re telling me that you both basically have the coolest freakin’ powers on the planet and all you did this weekend was go eat _ice cream?”_ Donghyuck whisper-yells, hands slamming down on the table. They’re in the mall’s basement food court, and the lights flicker at the slightest movement. The only reason they’re here of all places is because the younger boy swears by the garlic bread they serve in the pizza joint beside them. “Do you _know_ just _how much_ I would give to be able to fly around?” Donghyuck obviously doesn’t get it, but Jeno doesn’t want to put in the effort to explain how much better it is to watch Renjun giggle at his jokes with raspberry cream dotted on the tip of his nose.

 

Donghyuck is asking him if he’s even listening to him, and sure, Jeno can see his mouth forming words and there’s his droning, high pitched voice floating through the air, but it’s nothing compared to what he’s thinking of. _Nothing_ compared to the look he had seen on Renjun’s face when they noticed his favorite animated character in the window of a shop they had passed. Jeno, the next day, might have used some of his “superhero credit” to get the shop owner to give the toy to him for free and wrap it in a pretty box. A pretty box for a pretty boy. It’s very fitting. The box is under his bed somewhere, and he figures he’ll give it to him when the time is right.

 

The red haired boy asks him again if he’s listening, which ultimately snaps him out of his dreamy haze, and back to the harsh, cold, and unforgiving reality where he can’t kiss Renjun. Oh, God, he wants to _kiss_ Huang Renjun. That’s a new thought.

 

“What do you want, Hyuck?” Jeno asks, uncharacteristically monotone, all energy drained from him once he fully processes his new revelation.

 

“All I’m saying is, instead of spending your time goofing off with lover boy, why don’t you spend your time fighting crime with lover boy? I’m sure you could break some sort of world record, being the first queer couple to come to Batman’s aid, right?”

 

Donghyuck tells it like it’s simple, like he could possibly throw Renjun into the line of fire like that without shattering all his morals and ethics. It’s not simple, it’ll never be that simple for Jeno because his heart wouldn’t be able to take Renjun in pain, as he has previously made clear to himself. Said heart will undoubtedly shatter along with the aforementioned.

 

Speaking of the object of his every affection, Jeno is saved from having to respond when his phone starts vibrating against the table, screen flashing on to display Renjun’s profile. It’s a picture of Moomin, obviously. Jeno is _not_ jealous over a fat, poorly drawn, unwitty, cry baby, mama's boy, cow-looking blob. Not at all.

 

“Jeno, I need you to come over, like, as soon as you can. I have to show you something. Bye.”

 

That’s all it is before the call ends and Jeno is left to begin packing up his things.

 

“Sorry man, duty calls.”

 

“I could hear Renjun’s voice, you know.”

 

* * *

 

Jeno steps off the lift on the 17th floor and makes his way down the narrow hallway, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his sweater. The building is perpetually cold despite the warm fall air outside, and it makes him want to knit Renjun a thousand blankets to keep him warm at night. He finally makes it to the older boy’s door, knocking twice before it swings open to reveal an incredibly excited Renjun who grabs Jeno’s wrist and pulls him inside the small living room.

 

“Jeno! Jeno, I have something a-amazing to show you, it’s actually, like, like, wow, I’m actually so excited, Sicheng got it for me, it’s perfect.” Renjun chatters animatedly, leading them through the apartment to his bedroom. There’s a box on the bed. They sit down on either side of it.

 

“Before you freak out, I want you to know that I’ve put a lot of thought into this, I had a really long conversation with Sicheng and, well, he sort of opened my eyes, I guess you could say? Anyway, I just really want to show you this, I think we could be a really cool team…”

 

Renjun lifts the lid of the box and suddenly, Jeno feels like he’s been punched in the gut. It’s obviously a superhero costume, it’s obviously meant for Renjun, and it obviously means that he’s changed his mind about the whole heroic business. Jeno can’t breathe.

 

“Are you going to say something?”

 

* * *

 

Jeno slams the door on his way out to prove a point and slides down against the wall beside it, head in his hands. He mulls briefly over the argument the two of them just had together, before the second rush of adrenaline kicks in and he shoots up to his feet, punching the beige wall before making a run for the back staircase. He doesn’t stop running until he’s back at home and has his face shoved in his pillow as he muffles a scream. Renjun wanted to start training to fight and Jeno thoroughly flipped out, pointing an accusatory finger at the smaller one and telling him he’s not going anywhere that’ll put him in danger. Understandably, Renjun was offended and yelled back, something about how he isn’t as weak as Jeno thinks he is, that he shouldn’t undermine him just because he’s tinier in size. He then proceeded to prove himself in a fit of anger by lifting Jeno’s backpack with his mind and tossing it full force into his chest. It caused him to stumble back, and Renjun continued to push him until he was at the front door.

 

“Leave,” he had demanded.

 

Jeno had never been good with emotions or with handling people in general. He liked to think of himself as a pretty relaxed person, but it gets to the point where instead of healthily dealing with his emotions, he’s just too _lazy_ to address them, and then it all comes out in an explosion. Jeno, instead of telling Renjun that he wants him safe and in his arms, tells him that he shouldn’t even be _allowed_ to _walk home_ alone. Jeno, instead of bringing Renjun into a hug and telling him that the suit looks lovely, points out how flimsy it is and how it would be ripped to shreds in battle. Lee Jeno, instead of telling Huang Renjun how hopelessly in love he is with him, calls the elder a bitch and storms out of the apartment. Now he’s all-around hopeless, and there’s a deep ache in his chest.

 

* * *

 

It takes some time before Jeno can even _read_ the texts that Batman sent him while he was moping. They go something like this:

 

The Big Ol Bat Guy

[7:00 P.M.] Robbery at intersection between 5th and Queen. Can you take this one?

 

The Big Ol Bat Guy

[7:20 P.M.] OK. No hard feelings.

 

The Big Ol Bat Guy

[10:02 A.M.] Hey. Bright new day. Can you get excused from school at noon? There’s a meeting we’ve been invited to. 

 

The Big Ol Bat Guy

[5:54 P.M.] Just dropped by your place. Your mom says you’ve been out all day. Please answer my texts when you get them, this is very irresponsible. Behavior like this is not tolerated and Green Arrow will be taking your spot on the next few missions.

 

And then a week later:

 

The Big Ol Bat Guy

[11:40 A.M.] Coming over now. Be dressed and have your teeth brushed, ready to leave the house. I can bring you snacks.

 

* * *

 

Jeno had been thrown into a fight alone as punishment for his actions. Mister Freeze is on a rampage, and eight civilians have been injured in the last half hour. He’s about to ask Batman how he’s even supposed to go about fighting such a criminal, but the Batmobile had sped off the moment he left the car. He never thought such a well composed guy could be _so damn petty._

 

It’s suffice to say that after weeks of moping around the house and gorging on junk food, the Blue Beetle was not exactly up to his regular fit physique. He keeps appearances up for the public eye, leading Mister Freeze away from the densely populated main street, and towards an empty parking lot. The neighborhood is familiar, but he ignores the butterflies that flutter in his gut when he notices the tall apartment across the street.

 

Despite his attempts to get back into the swing of things, he’s truly getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter. Apparently, his scarab really does _not_ like to deal with sub-zero temperatures, so when Mister Freeze blasts a wave of ice cold water in his direction, his suit malfunctions accordingly. Blue Beetle’s backed up against a wall in an alley now, eyes squeezed shut, shooting up a few long overdue prayers as the villain stalks closer to him. Except, it’s taking an astonishingly long period of time for the other to reach him. So he opens his eyes.

 

There’s a lot to process that’s happening in front of him. For starters, Mister Freeze is now hanging upside down in the air, squirming like a fish out of water. Secondly, his body temperature isn’t plummeting to negative five thousand. Last but not least, Renjun’s standing there, expression unamused as he looks down at him.

 

“This feels oddly nostalgic, eh?” Jeno tries, shoulders hunched up as he waits for a reply.

 

The reply comes as a swift smack to the face, and okay, he did deserve that but god _damn_ he’s got a lot of power behind his swing. Jeno thinks he’s fallen even deeper in love.

 

“Fuck you, Lee Jeno.”

 

“I know, I know, I’m the worst, I don’t deserve you, just lay it on me.”

 

Renjun huffs frustratedly, crossing his arms over his chest, making him look even cuter somehow. Jeno’s heart swoons.

 

“Are you too angry to let me give you a ‘thank you’ hug?”

 

And there’s the fuckboy side to Jeno that has Renjun weak in the knees, although he’d never admit it. He tries his best to hold back, to really get it through the taller one’s thick skull that he’s _mad_ and that he deserves a proper apology. But, before he can voice what he wants, Jeno is shakily standing up and pulling him closer, large hands wrapping around his waist.

 

“Come on,” Jeno drawls, bringing his face down to nuzzle at Renjun’s neck, “gimme a hug. I missed you.”

 

And although Renjun may not be weak on the battlefield, he will forever be weak for Jeno, and that’s how he excuses himself as he throws his arms up and around Jeno’s neck, bringing him impossibly closer as he clings on to him. There’s tears in his eyes and his voice is shaking when he asks the younger to apologize. Jeno pulls back and holds his face in his hands.

 

“I’m sorry, Renjun. I was mad, and I didn’t know how to formulate how worried I was for you. I promise it’ll never happen again. I…”

 

The apology trails off because Jeno really can’t stop staring at his lips, captivated, and the need to kiss him becomes even stronger. Has Renjun always been this beautiful?

 

“Can… can I…?”

 

He nods wordlessly in return, eyelids fluttering shut when Jeno leans in.

 

But Batman, for being one of the smartest men on the planet, really isn’t good at his timing skills.

 

“Oh, hello there boys!” It’s Robin. He’s leaning out of the Batmobile’s window with a shit-eating grin on his face. Jeno thinks of a thousand different ways to wipe it off. Jeno _hates_ Robin. “Get in, it’s past your bedtime by now.”

 

Batman is there too, obviously, and a few moments later the police join the crowd to take Mister Freeze off to prison. They almost forgot he was still there, a few meters above their heads. Renjun lets him fall to the ground with a flick of his fingers. The two teens lace their hands together shyly and they walk towards the car, piling in the backseat.

 

* * *

 

It’s much later when they finally reach Jeno’s suburban home. It’s tucked away in a residential neighborhood, and the apparently highly functioning GPS (“You had it made so that it could find any location in our galaxy, and yet it can’t figure out where Summerhill Avenue is? Pathetic.” Robin had complained, and for once in Jeno’s life he laughed at his joke) can’t seem to pinpoint it’s location.

 

Now, Jeno is sitting on the bathroom floor while Renjun delicately tends to the wounds covering his back from when he was thrown against the pavement. Since his scarab had been malfunctioning, there had been a point in the fight where the suit folded back into itself and left Jeno in his Simpsons boxers on the cold, hard, gravel ground. Unbelievably embarrassing. He offhandedly wonders if such a thing has ever happen to Batman.

 

“You know, Jeno, for someone who claimed to be much tougher than me, you sure get scuffed up pretty easily.” There’s a sharp sting against his skin as Renjun pours rubbing alcohol across a few of the deeper cuts.

 

“I thought we were over this, Injunnie…”

 

“We’re never going to be over this, I can hold a mean grudge when I want to.”

 

“Is there anything I can do to, oh I don’t know, make you give me an exception? Just this once?”

 

Jeno is now turned around and looking up with big, brown, glossy eyes at the boy propped up on the edge of the bathtub. Renjun makes a note to himself that he’s gonna have to learn to get better at looking away on time.

 

“I can think of a few things. One of which you were about to do before we were so rudely interrupted.”

 

It’s like a switch has been flipped because the moment the words exit his mouth, he’s suddenly laid down on the bathroom rug and Jeno is hovering over him, peppering small pecks all over his face, mumbling something that sounds familiar to _I love you_ before he lands a final smooch on Renjun’s lips, channeling all his happiness in the kiss. It’s so unbelievably _soft_ and afterwards Jeno is smiling down at him with his signature eye-smile, and gosh, has Jeno always been this beautiful?

 

* * *

 

So, to answer Donghyuck’s questions, yes and yes. Yes, he can fight crime _and_ goof off with lover boy, and yes, he’s 99.9% sure they’re the first queer couple to come to Batman’s aid. Even if they’re not that good at it yet.

**Author's Note:**

> so renjun is magnetic kid and sicheng is cosmic boy! truly underrated storyline imo  
> p.s: jeno gave him the moomin stuffie that he bought all those weeks ago later that night and renjun loved it  
> p.p.s im still getting the hang of writing i know this is sloppy so any constructive criticism is welcomed


End file.
